Joey Barton: Bristol Rovers manager says promoted team will be League One 'underdogs'
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The upcoming season will be Joey Barton's fifth in management
Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton admitted his side are going to be "underdogs" as they return to League One for the 2022-23 season.
The team secured promotion at the first time of asking in style, following relegation to League Two in 2021.
They secured an automatic promotion spot with a 7-0 victory over Scunthorpe on the final day of the last campaign.
The win saw Barton's side move into the top three of the table for the first time, on the day it mattered.
Bristol Rovers face West country rivals Forest Green Rovers, who were also promoted from League Two, in their first match on Saturday, July 30.
"We're going up into a division now which is a big step up for us," Barton told BBC Radio Bristol.
"We've got a young group who have got some League One experience, we've got some in there who haven't got League One experience, so it's going to be new challenges for them.
"The expectation's changed. I think I've read the experts' predictions have been out this week as they do before the league campaigns start. The most optimistic of experts for us had us at like 16th position and I think ones who are maybe a bit more pessimistic have got us in and around 21st, something like that.
"Nobody expects us to do a lot more than just survive this year and if I'm being honest, that's a good season for us.
"But our intention in this building isn't just to take part, isn't just to survive, but we've got a lot of work to do.
"We're going to be underdogs this year, whereas last year I don't think we were."
Barton took over at Bristol Rovers in February 2021 when the club were in the midst of a relegation struggle and was at the helm as their five-year stay in League One came to an end that summer.
The club endured a difficult start to last season as Barton completely overhauled the squad, and they were languishing near the bottom of the table in 16th in December.
But the team looked transformed in the new year, winning 15 of their final 23 matches.
Barton, who previously spent three years as manager of Fleetwood Town, signed a new deal with the club this summer to keep him there until 2026.
However, he said fans should temper expectations around results when the new campaign kicks off.
"This is the start of my fifth season, I've incrementally got better from the opening day of the season to the end of the season," Barton continued.
"You look at the first game against Mansfield and the team selection and the group to the last game of the season against Scunthorpe, a marked difference of culture, of team, of style, of belief.
"This season I think there's two managers out of the 92 in the pyramid that will have all of their resources in place from the first day of the season, it's probably Pep Guardiola and it's probably Jurgen Klopp.
"Every other manager is trying to replace loans they had last year or the good players they lost, or players who went out of contract or players who have retired. There's a whole host of problems.
"We have to be mindful we're not 100% where we want to be on the opening day of the season."